The best known designations of American states

The following are some of the best known designations of American states:

Antelope State. Nebraska.
Badger State. Wisconsin. This name is said to have been given the state because the mining pioneers lived in the ground like badgers. There is a badger on the state coat of arms.
Battle-born State. Nevada, so called because it was admitted into the Union during the Civil War.
Bay State. Massachusetts, so called from the name of the original colony, Massachusetts Bay.
Bayou State. Mississippi. A bayou is a creek, or sluggish and marshy overflow of a river or lake. The word may be of native American origin, but is probably a corruption of Fr. boyau, gut.
Bear State. Arkansas, so called from the number of bears formerly within its bounds.
Big Bend State. Tennessee, from the Indian name Tennessee, meaning "River of the Big Bend."
Blue Grass State. Kentucky.
Blue Law State. Connecticut. See BLUE LAWS.
Bonanza State. Nevada. See BONANZA.
Border States. The five "slave" states ( Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri) which lay next to the "free states" were so called in the American Civil War.
Border Eagle State. Mississippi, from the border eagle in its coat of arms.
Buckeye State. Ohio, so called from its numerous buckeye or horse-chestnut trees. An inhabitant of the state is known as a Buckeye.
Bullion State. Missouri, so called from its Congressman, Thomas Hart Benton, who was known as "Old Bullion."
Centennial State. Colorado, from the date of its admission into the Union in 1876, one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence.
Cockade State. Maryland, from the cockades worn by Maryland Revolutionary troops.
Confederate States. The eleven States which seceded from the Union in the Civil War ( 1861-1865): Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Texas. They were all readmitted into the Union between 1866 and 1870.
Corn-Cracker State. Kentucky. According to one derivation, the name comes from its corn-cracker birds. Crackers or Corn Crackers are Southern "poor whites."
Cotton Plantation State. Alabama.
Cracker State. Georgia. Crackers are "poor whites."
Creole State. Louisiana, from its large percentage of Creoles, or persons of French (or sometimes Spanish) descent.
Equality State. Wyoming, because it was the first to grant woman suffrage.
Empire State. New York. The name Empire was given to the state and city by George Washington, 1784, in reply to an address by the New York Common Council.
Empire State of the South. Georgia.
Everglade State. Florida, so called from its everglades or tracts of marshy flat land.
Excelsior State. New York is so called from its motto Excelsior.
Federal States. The name given to those northern states which combined to resist the eleven southern or Confederate states.
Freestone State. Connecticut, from the freestone in its limits.
Garden State. Kansas and New Jersey have been so called from their agricultural interests.
Golden State. California; so called from its gold "diggings."
Granite State. New Hampshire is so called, because the mountainous parts are chiefly granite.
Green Mountain State. Vermont.
Gulf States. Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico.
Hawk Eye State. Iowa, from the name of the Indian chief who opposed the early settlers.
Hoosier State. Indiana, said to be named from Husher, a bully who hushed those opposed to him.
Jay Hawk State. Kansas. See JAY HAWK.
Keystone State. Pennsylvania, so called from its position and importance.
Lake State. Michigan, which touches Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Superior, and Lake St. Clair.
Live Oak State. Florida, from its numbers of live oaks.
Lone Star State. Texas, from its coat of arms which displays a single star.
Lumber State. Maine.
North Star State. Minnesota, from its motto L'Etoile du Nord (The North Star).
Nutmeg State. Connecticut, from the shrewdness of its inhabitants, who are supposed to produce wooden nutmegs and other frauds.
Old Line State. Maryland, which is separated from Pennsylvania by the Mason and Dixon line.
Old North State. North Carolina.
Palmetto State. South Carolina. The palmetto tree is a prominent feature of the state coat of arms.
Panhandle State. West Virginia. See PANHANDLE.
Pelican State. Louisiana, from the pelican in its coat of arms.
Peninsular State. Florida, so called because of its shape.
Pine Tree State. Maine, which has forests of these trees and bears a pine-tree on its coat of arms.
Prairie State. Illinois, from its vast prairies.
Sage-Brush State. Nevada. The inhabitants are called Sage Hens.
Thirteen States. The original thirteen colonies that united to form the United States of America. They are Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.
Sucker State. Illinois was so called from the "suckers" who worked in the lead diggings of Wisconsin but returned to Illinois for the winter.
Turpentine State. North Carolina, because of the turpentine it produces.
Wolverine State. Michigan, from the wolverines of its pioneer days.
Land of Steady Habits. Connecticut, which is also called the Blue Law State.
Sunset Land. Arizona.

The following are the dates of admission of the various states into the Union:

Alabama ( December 14, 1819); Arizona ( February 14, 1912); Arkansas ( June 15, 1836); California ( September 9, 1850); Colorado ( August 1, 1876); Connecticut ( January 9, 1788); Delaware ( December 7, 1787); Florida ( March 3, 1845); Georgia ( January 2, 1788); Idaho ( July 3, 1890); Illinois ( December 3, 1818); Indiana ( December 11, 1816); Iowa ( December 28, 1846); Kansas ( January 29, 1861); Kentucky ( June 1, 792); Louisiana ( April 8, 1812); Maine ( March 15, 1820); Maryland ( April 28, 1788); Massachusetts ( February 6, 1788); Michigan ( January 26, 1837); Minnesota ( May 11, 1858); Mississippi ( December 10, 1817); Missouri ( August 10, 1821); Montana ( November 8, 1889); Nebraska ( February 9, 1867); Nevada ( October 31, 1864); New Hampshire ( June 21, 1788); New Jersey ( December 18, 1787); New Mexico ( January 6, 1912); New York ( July 26, 1788); North Carolina ( November 21, 1789); North Dakota ( November 2, 1889); Ohio ( March 1, 1803); Oklahoma ( November 16, 1907); Oregon ( February 14, 1859); Pennsylvania ( December 12, 1787); Rhode Island ( May 29, 1790); South Carolina ( May 23, 1788); South Dakota ( November 2, 1889); Tennessee ( June 1, 1796); Texas ( December 29, 1845); Utah ( January 4, 1896); Vermont ( March 4, 1791); Virginia ( June 25, 1788); Washington ( November 11, 1889); West Virginia ( June 20, 1863); Wisconsin ( May 29, 1848); Wyoming ( July 1890).